Your Digest for Thursday, Jan 11, 2024 01:59 PM


PDB is an ancient disease, claimed to be identified in a Neanderthal skull;

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Spondyloarthritis (SpA)

Inflammatory osteoproliferative lesions in the spine are called syndesmophytes (marginal and non-marginal), and degenerative osteoproliferative lesions are called osteophytes. Syndesmophytes are more vertically oriented than osteophytes.

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Syndesmophyte Osteophyte
Arise from calcification withn ligaments Arise from bone (vertebral bodies)
Seen in inflammatory (spondylo) arthropathies See in Osteoarthritis
Source

[!TIP] Mnemonic: RePsAnkIb

Ankylosing = stiffness or fixation of a joint by disease
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- Advanced cases: fusion of the sacroiliac joints, and bamboo spine. (Gadolinum MRI is more sensitive than Xray at detecting early changes).

Diagnosis

"Plain x-ray of the sacroiliac joints is the most useful investigation in establishing the diagnosis."

The sacroiliac joint is actually a synovial joint with hyaline on the sacral surface and fibrous cartilage on the iliac surface Source.

Bone changes seen in various diseases

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Langerhans cell histiocytosis